Having some trouble applying compression and normalization

[Cyath]

Hello all. I watched some tutorials on YT about how to apply these effects and I think I understand the concepts more or less. However, when I actually apply them to my recording what happens is that the waveform becomes really huge and distorted.

I'm not sure why this is happening? I tried different settings on both amplify, normalize and compression but that's all I get. It sounds kind of horrible on playback as well.

Does anyone know what might be going on here?

[kozikowski]

Before we dive into the weeds here, what's the goal? If you're reading for audiobooks or voice-over work, we publish a simplified voice processing collection of tools. If it's something else it would be good to know what.

Koz

[DVDdoug]

Normalization and Amplification are simply volume adjustments. They are perfectly safe with their defaults and they won't affect sound quality unless you normalize/amplify the peaks over 0dB (the "digital maximum").

Amplify can be be used for normalization. Audacity has pre-scanned your file and Amplify will default to whatever gain (or attenuation) is needed for normalized 0dB peaks. The Normalization effect adds a couple of other options.

Note that (regular) Normalization is NOT "loudness normalization" or "loudness matching". It's a volume adjustment that targets a particular peak level (usually 0dB = 1.0 = 100%) and peaks do not correlate well with perceived loudness.

...Actually, Audacity itself can go over 0dB without clipping so you may not get clipping/distortion unless you play-back at full-digital volume (clipping your digital-to-analog converter) or until you export to WAV or some other format that's limited to 0dB. So for example, you can boost the volume or boost the bass, etc. to the point where Audacity shows (potential) and the wave won't actually be clipped (yet). After that, you can apply the Normalize or Amplify effect to bring down the volume below clipping. (In that case, you'd enter a negative "amplification" which is attenuation, or just accept the default negative.)

What are you trying to accomplish with compression? Compression is more complex, it's non-linear, and there are lots of settings so it can easily damage the audio. In general, compression makes the loud parts quieter and/or quiet parts louder. In practice it "pushes down" the loud parts and then make-up gain is used to bring-up the overall loudness, while trending everything toward the same volume to make "everything loud" or "louder". IMO - Modern Loudness War music is over-compressed and over-limited to the point where the constant-loudness is boring and I just want to turn-down the volume.

[Cyath]

First of all thanks for the assistance and support, I really appreciate it. The goal here is simply to learn more about mixing in general, but I understand it's a very large field. My plan is to do covers on YT, but I just want to learn more about the mixing process so I can make the end result sound better.
I do do a little voice work on the side so it would be good to learn about that too.

I've heard that it's actually more important to get a good recording than it is to mix, because mixing can only go so far? Would you agree with that?

If my recording is already ok, then would I not need to actually bother compressing and normalizing it?

[kozikowski]

Step one. Get or make a studio.

By far the worst problem home readers have is the competition with a bad room or environment. Behold Ian who holds the current record for longest post on the forum. All he wanted to do was record audiobooks in his apartment in Hollywood (a real place). We beat up his mechanical and acoustic problems for over a year and 39 forum chapters.

Contrast that with a sound test I shot in my super quiet, echo-free bedroom. I set up a stand-alone sound recorder on a roll of paper towels on my desk, announced a technically perfect track, pressed stop and went to make coffee. I think it was fifteen minutes including setting up the roll of paper towels.



Once you get your studio set up, you can do whatever you want.

Koz

[DVDdoug]

I've heard that it's actually more important to get a good recording than it is to mix, because mixing can only go so far? Would you agree with that?

Yes, it's "links in the chain" and it all starts with good recordings.

"Mixing" is "blending" so if you have a separate vocal track, guitar track, drum track, etc., you mix them together. If you are recording a live performance the mixing is happening acoustically so you can just set-up a microphone (two for stereo) and record. (Pro live recording is typically multi-tracked with multiple microphones and mixed later.)

But, with most modern-professional recordings there are effects & editing done at the same time as mixing so that's done by the mixing engineer and considered part of "mixing".

If my recording is already ok, then would I not need to actually bother compressing and normalizing it?

You should only compress if it makes it sound better. It is one of the most common effects but mostly it's just used to make the recording louder without clipping/distortion. It's not "necessary" and your recording may sound better without it. Live music isn't compressed and that's one reason that it usually sounds better than recorded music.

Limiting is a kind of (fast) compression and it's easier to experiment with because there are fewer settings to mess-up. So, maybe try that first (with make-up gain or normalize after limiting to bring-up the loudness).

If you're going to upload your recordings to YouTube, they try to standardize the volume so if you over-do the compression/limiting to make your recording louder they may adjust it down anyway. (Since they don't apply dynamic compression they may not be able to bring your recording up to their standard volume if it's too quiet.)

Normalization is usually a good idea. It's just a volume adjustment so it won't hurt sound quality.

And, if you apply effects that push your peaks over 0dB, normalization can bring your levels safely down so you won't get clipping. Normalization is a good last step.

Speaking of levels & normalization - Mixing is done by summation so if you are mixing two or more tracks that approach 0dB, the mix will exceed 0dB and you can get clipping. One solution is to export as 32-bit floating-point WAV which can go over 0dB without clipping. Then, re-import the WAV file, normalize to bring down the levels, then export to your desired format. (You shouldn't distribute or upload a floating-point file that goes over 0dB because your listeners can get clipping/distortion when they play it.)

[Cyath]

Wow this is all pretty complex. Thanks so much for helping though!

Ok I had better give you all more information to go on. I have a sort of home studio set up?

DAW : UR Steinberg 22
Microphone : Jts pdm 3

I use a Kaotix Eyeball with a pop filter to cut out excess noise and it works pretty good. I just want to learn more about mixing because well, we can all always grow and learn right? I usually sing covers and I just want them to sound good.

So far I am adjusting the volume by using the gain meters in each track and it's working out ok. Maybe I don't need to compress or normalize?

[DVDdoug]

Maybe I don't need to compress or normalize

Like I said, normalization is usually a good idea and it's harmless.

DAW : UR Steinberg 22

Just FYI - The Steinberg is an audio interface.

A DAW (digital audio workstation) is software.* Usually "DAW" refers to a "bigger" multi-track recording/mixing/editing application that also supports MIDI. Some people call Audacity a DAW but I consider it an "audio editor" or an "audio editor/recorder."

If you are doing lots of mixing (many separate vocal and instrument tracks) a full DAW is probably worthwhile but it would be at least 10 times as complex as Audacity.


* DAW can also refer to the whole hardware/software recording system or an all-in-one Portastudio.

[DVDdoug]

My plan is to do covers on YT

I've read conflicting information about that... You might get taken-down for a copyright violation, or maybe the songwriter/copyright owner collects any advertising money from your videos... I'm not sure...

Here in the U.S., you can play covers live and it's up to the venue (not the performer) to have a license. The fees go into a pool so again the copyright holder gets paid. The same goes for DJs. It's up to the venue to have a license

For CDs or MP3s there is something called a "compulsory mechanical license" which means nobody can stop you from distributing covers as long as you pay the licensing fee of about 5-10 cents song-per per-copy distributed (It depends on the playing time). So, if you make a CD with 10 covers, the songwriter(s) get about $1 from each CD you distribute. It doesn't matter if you give-away the CDs or downloads... You have to pay even if you're not making money.

[Cyath]

Yes I've read a lot of conflicting information as well. I have decided to just go ahead and do it because I want to.

I'm only doing the one track vocal and one track voice and that's it. How much mixing do I need?

I don't really have the time or energy to do more at present...I think my setup is not fully professional but it's pretty decent?